Sunday, January 17, 2010

Daily Hereald for Hultgren

From today's Editorial. They're right. He may be a fine guy but he's not done anything to deserve a shot at the 14th. I'm voting Hultgren.

His opponent, 31-year-old Ethan Hastert of Elburn, has little to no experience in the public sector, having served a short time as a special assistant in former Vice President Dick Cheney's office. While we think he could be a rising star in the Republican Party someday and make a thoughtful elected official, he needs to have more experience under his belt before going to Washington. As the son of the former speaker and congressman, he has name recognition. But he does not yet stand out on his own, despite his protestations that it's his name on the ballot not his father's.

Both candidates claim to be the conservative choice in this election. Indeed, Hastert brought in former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich to lead a rally. Hultgren, meanwhile, has received a bevy of endorsements from conservative groups, and his social views are much farther to the right than we would like.

But we like Hultgren's answers when we asked how he differs from the party line. He believes the GOP can do more to protect our environment, and he believes both the Democrats and Republicans are responsible for overspending in Congress and for what he termed a "culture of corruption."